Gophers junior Max McHugh wins 100-yard breaststroke in NCAA swimming meet

Gophers junior Max McHugh won the 100-yard breaststroke in 50.18 seconds on Friday night in the NCAA swimming and diving championships in Indianapolis.

He was the top seed going into the finals after setting a pool record of 50.87 in the preliminaries earlier in the day and then broke it again. McHugh, of Sturgeon Bay, Wis., was third in the 100 breaststroke as a freshman.

Ian Finnerty, the NCAA record holder in the 100 breaststroke (49.69 for Indiana in 2018), seemed most impressed by McHugh's muscular body. "Trade my time for that physique any day. Solid swim," SwimSwam News quoted Finnerty as saying.

McHugh will try to win a second gold medal in the 200 breaststroke on Saturday.

Former East Ridge standout and Wisconsin-Milwaukee transfer Courtney Brown Jr. has committed to St. Thomas, his father told the Star Tribune.

The 6-7 Brown played his last two seasons at UW-Milwaukee, averaging 5.4 points and 3.9 rebounds in 17 games as a sophomore this past season.

The Tommies, who will be playing in the Summit League in the 2021-22 season, are making the transition to Division I under coach John Tauer.

Brown, the older brother of Baylor 2021 recruit and McDonald's All-America Kendall Brown, is the first Division I transfer to join Tauer's program this offseason.

Minnehaha Academy guard Hercy Miller announced that he has accepted a scholarship offer to play at Tennessee State.

The 6-3 senior is averaging 10.6 points per game for the Redhawks and is considered a three-star prospect by 247Sports.

He had high-major offers from LSU, Missouri and USC, as well as Morgan State and Western Kentucky.

He is the son of hip-hop artist and producer Master P (Percy Miller).

JIM PAULSEN

Katelyn Kemmetmueller hit two homers and Carlie Brandt and Sara Kinch one each as the Gophers beat host Illinois 6-0, scoring all their runs on the long ball, to move into a tie with the Illini for second place in the Big Ten. Both teams are 10-3; Minnesota has won seven straight. Kemmetmueller and Brandt each had two-run blasts.

Autumn Pease pitched the first six innings for the Gophers, Ava Dueck the seventh.

• The Gophers baseball team lost 6-1 to Nebraska in Lincoln. Minnesota's lone run came on Zack Elliott's RBI single in the eighth inning. The Gophers (3-9) made three errors in their first game outdoors. Their first 11 games were inside U.S. Bank Stadium.

• Playing at home, the Gophers women's tennis team lost 5-2 to No. 6 Northwestern (15-2). Ekin Ercetin of the Gophers (3-9) beat Julie Byrne 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (11-9) at second singles for her team-high ninth win and teammate Dalila Said beat No. 65-ranked Clarissa Hand 5-7, 6-3, 1-0 (10-8) at third singles for her first win over a ranked player.